Visa announced the results of a study it commissioned from Moody's Analytics on the impact of electronic payment products, such as credit and debit cards, on the GDP of 56 countries.

“Despite a challenging global economic landscape, the increased penetration of payment cards helped boost consumer consumption and, on average, added to GDP,” noted Mark Zandi, Chief Economist of Moody’s Analytics. “This was particularly true for emerging markets. The increase in consumption parallels the growing popularity and accessibility of electronic payments among global consumers, and the findings point to the need for governments to adopt policies that encourage the shift to efficient and secure electronic forms of payments.”

The study found that increases in card consumption contributed to an average additional growth in GDP of 0.17% per year over a five-year period. Over the same time period, GDP in those 56 countries grew by an average of 1.8%.